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The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) 2009-2013

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DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION HISTORY 2009-2013 Phoenix Drug Kingpin Sentenced to 20 Years for Directing Criminal Enterprise In January 2009, the DEA Phoenix Field Division and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona announced the sentencing of drug kingpin Martin Angel Gonzalez. Martin Angel Gonzalez, 43, of Phoenix, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for operating a large drug trafficking ring out of Phoenix. U.S. District Court Judge Stephen M. McNamee also imposed a $10 million monetary judgment against Gonzalez, who pled guilty to being the leader of a Continuing Criminal Enterprise, Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Marijuana, Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, and Possession with the Intent to Distribute Marijuana. Gonzalez was charged with various drug trafficking offenses as part of a 70-count superseding indictment related to his leader­ ship of a 12-year conspiracy involving the distribution of over 30,000 kilograms of marijuana worth more than $33 million. Twenty-five other co-conspirators were also charged and pled guilty for their involvement in the conspiracy. During the investigation, agents seized approximately 5,000 pounds of marijuana and more than $15 million in organization­ al assets. These assets included cash, investment accounts, bank accounts, vehicles, jewelry, and real estate properties. Gonzalez’s organization imported marijuana from Mexico, packaged it in the Phoenix area and distributed it to Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Califor­ nia. He distributed marijuana to his associates across the country using commercial trucks, cars and commercial shipping compa­ nies. Gonzalez was arrested in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, with the assistance of Mexican federal law enforcement authorities. He was extradited from Mexico to the United States in 2006. Miguel Caro-Quintero Extradition of Miguel Caro-Quintero (2009) Caro-Quintero took control of the family drug trafficking ­or ganization responsible for trafficking multi-ton quantities of co­ caine, heroin, and marijuana into the U.S. after the arrest and imprisonment of his brother, Rafael Caro-Quintero, who previ­ ously led the organization. Rafael Caro-Quintero and Miguel An­ gel Felix-Gallardo were the masterminds behind the kidnapping, torture, and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena in 1985. 153 HISTORY Federal and Local Law Enforcement Working Together in Connecticut In February 2009, the DEA Bridgeport, Connecticut Resident Office (BRO) received a call from the Danbury Police Department following the discovery of the body of Ed­ ward Rivera in a remote area of Danbury, CT. The BRO responded to Danbury and assisted with the investigation. As a result of the inves­ tigation by DEA, the Danbury Police Depart­ ment, and the U.S. Marshal Service, it was discovered that Rivera had been kidnapped from his address in Bronx, NY, robbed of 68 pounds of marijuana, murdered, and driven 60 miles to Danbury, where his body was dumped in a wooded area. The vehicle used to transport Rivera was found at a salvage yard in the Bronx. On March 1, 2009, the stolen marijuana was recovered in a wall trap in the bedroom of defendant Andrew Zayac. Zayac was later Operation Blade Runner convicted of the murder, kidnapping, and robbery of Rivera in federal court. Zayac’s co-defendant, Heriber­ Operation Blade Runner (2009) to Gonzalez, was convicted on drug charges, tampering with evi­ A traffic stop conducted by the Utah Highway Patrol in Salt dence, and obstruction of justice. From phone records obtained Lake City in February 2009 resulted in the seizure of 83 kilo­ during the investigation, a connection was made to a marijuana grams of cocaine. Law enforcement determined the cocaine was and steroid trafficking group in Danbury. A Title III investigation destined for a location in eastern Washington, where it was to was initiated with ties to the Bonnano Organized Crime Family have been loaded onto a helicopter in exchange for a load of and the Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club. The operation resulted B.C. bud marijuana. When the helicopter touched down out­ in 12 federal arrests and the seizure of 200 pounds of marijuana, side of Lone, Washington, DEA was waiting. Samuel Lindsey- large quantities of steroids, and cash, vehicles, and real property Brown, 24, of Revelstoke, British Columbia, was arrested after totaling $750,000.00. he attempted to off-load 12 large duffel bags containing 426 pounds of marijuana. During the course of the investigation, a United States Reaches $1 Million Settlement with DEA Special Agent working undercover infiltrated the organi­ Kino Hospital in Tucson zation and arranged to receive 300 pounds of B.C. bud mari­ The DEA Tucson District Office announced a settlement with juana and to deliver 20 kilograms of cocaine to be smuggled Kino Hospital in Tucson, AZ in March 2009 stemming from an into Canada. audit and an investigation conducted after doses of controlled On March 5, 2009, the group attempted the exchange with substances were discovered missing from the hospital in early the undercover DEA Special Agent using a helicopter in North 2004. Kino Hospital committed to fund $1,000,000 over five Idaho. A Kelowna, British Columbia man landed the helicopter years to establish a three-prong drug abuse prevention initiative to in Northern Idaho and was arrested after unloading 174 pounds benefit the Tucson area community. of B.C. bud marijuana. One part of the campaign was designed to educate parents and Through information sharing between the U.S. and Canada, teachers of teenage students in southern Arizona on the signs and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) identified the land­ symptoms associated with the abuse of prescription drugs. The ing site in Canada. The RCMP arrested two men from Chilli­ education campaign was developed and implemented in southern wack, B.C. and seized 150 pounds of marijuana and approxi­ Arizona middle schools and high schools by the Pima County mately 40,000 ecstasy pills. Additional search warrants served in Department of Health. Nelson, Salmon Arm and Malakwa, B.C. resulted in the seizure of The second initiative financed by Pima County was for the six guns and two arrests. Together, DEA and the RCMP arrested development and operation of an arrestee drug usage data col­ nine subjects and seized over 750 pounds of marijuana, over 80 lection program. This program allowed Pima County to track kilograms of cocaine, six weapons, and two helicopters. trends in drug usage, providing data to aid in assessing the vi­ ability of treatment efforts, law enforcement tactics, and general 4-Star General Accompanies DEA crime analysis. In March 2009, General David McKiernan, the U.S. Com­ The final of the three programs was for the development and mander of all NATO and U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, accompa­ operation of a drug treatment program to be implemented within nied DEA agents on a search warrant execution near Jalalabad, the Pima County jail system. The purpose of this program was Afghanistan. General McKiernan was the first 4-star General to to provide immediate access to drug treatment for Pima County accompany DEA agents in the field in Afghanistan. DEA FAST inmates on a voluntary basis. and DEA Kabul Country Office agents executed the operation 154 HISTORY of his traditional operating zone. Ultimately, Alfonso Cano’s hideout was pinpointed and in the early morning hours of November 4, 2011, the Colombian Air Force bombed the location while hundreds of elite Colombian Army Special Forces troops descended from helicopters to surround the mountainside hideout. Alfonso Cano was killed in action as he tried to sneak through the Army Spe­ cial Forces security perimeter under cover of darkness dressed in civilian clothes. This event marks the only time in Colombia’s 48­ year fight against FARC that the Supreme Commander of the FARC was killed. Physician Accused of Multiple Crimes in Massive Prescription Drug Case In July 2009, the DEA Phoenix Field Di­ General David McKeirnan with DEA ASAC Selby Smith, who organized General McKiernan’s vision and the Arizona Attorney General’s participation on this operation. Office announced the filing of felony charges and the Maricopa County Superior Court’s and seized 900 kilograms of morphine. General McKiernan be­ issuance of a $10 million seizure warrant against a Nevada doc­ came a friend of DEA in Afghanistan and was instrumental in tor who allegedly wrote illegal drug prescriptions for patients at providing military assistance for DEA operations. a clinic he operated in Mohave County. He also allegedly col­ lected $3.5 million in fraudulent insurance claims, including DEA Aids Colombians Against the FARC $2.5 million from the State of Arizona. In June 2009, the DEA Bogota Country Office Narco-Ter­ The 14 felony counts against Dr. Albert Szu Sun Yeh, 44, of Las rorism Group began assisting the Cuerpo Tecnico de Investigations Vegas, included conspiracy, assisting a criminal syndicate, money (CTI), the Colombian judicial investigative branch, and the Co­ laundering and improperly administering narcotic drugs. In a lombian Army in their manhunt to capture indicted FARC Su­ separate indictment, seven felony counts were filed against Dr. preme Commander Guillermo Leon Saenz Vargas a.k.a. Alfonso Yeh’s physician assistant, Bryan V. Espinosa, 54, of Henderson, Cano. Though he had been a DEA target for some time, it was Nevada. Alfonso Cano’s 2009 rise to the supreme leadership position, that Dr. Yeh, who was licensed to practice in both Nevada and Ari­ made him DEA’s number one FARC target. zona, maintained a practice in Las Vegas and saw Arizona patients For two years DEA and other U.S. Government agencies, only on Tuesdays at his Pain Wellness Center in Golden Valley, along with elements of Colombian Military Intelligence, Co­ Ariz., a town with a population of about 5,000 near Kingman.
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